Through a special arrangement, what follows is a summary of an article from Retail Paradox, RSR Research's weekly analysis on emerging issues facing retailers, presented here for discussion.
RSR recently introduced an online tool designed to help retailers determine where they are on the road to omni-channel maturity. It came from insights gleaned from responses to our Omni-channel Maturity Survey, which originated from a question put to us by a prominent specialty retailer: "What's the roadmap to become a leader in omni-channel?"
The model has six "dimensions" and the self-assessment tool measures for six levels of "maturity" for each dimension. The dimensions are:
- Customer: It's not about what you want to sell, it's what consumers want to buy, where, when, and how.
- Product: Not commodities, but solutions in the context of consumers' lifestyle needs.
- Inventory: The right inventory in the right place, in the right quantity, at the right price, available in the right way at the right time.
- Order/Fulfillment: Anytime, anywhere shopping.
- Locus: Harmonization of the digital world with the physical one.
- Technology: The right business rules and the right information delivered at the right moment to the decision maker.
Within the self-assessment tool, each dimension is given several "attributes" and the survey taker is asked to assess the company's level of proficiency for each. For example, these attributes are tested for the Customer dimension:
- Responsibility: Who owns the customer experience and how widely is "customer experience" defined internally?
- Collect Customer Data: How well does the organization collect customer data and ensure that such data is clean and useful?
- Maintain Customer Data: Who owns customer data and ensures that it is accurate over time and secure, and respects consumers' privacy?
- Develop Customer Insights: At what level are customer insights embedded into business processes across the retail enterprise?
- Engage With Customers: How well does the retailer present "one face" to the customer?
- Measurement: How well does the retailer measure success across all phases of customer engagement?